WWII Timeline of Events - World War II History Jan 04, 1944 In a conference attended by German leaders Heinrich Himmler, Wilhelm Keitel, Albert Speer, and Fritz Sauckel, it was decided that four million people were to be conscripted from occupied territories as forced laborers for war production. One million were to be drafted from France between 1... 02.and 31 Dec 1944. ( ... ) Jan 04, 1944 SS Garrison Doctor Eduard Wirths notified SS Medical Officers in the sub camps belonging to Auschwitz III-Monowitz camp that as of January 4, following identification and a number check, the corpses of prisoners should be sent every day before noon directly to crematorium, bypassing the morgues in Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The death reports of the prisoners and the protocols of the corpse examination were to be sent, as before, to the orderly room of prisoners' hospital in Auschwitz I camp by noon on the day the corpses were delivered to the crematorium. ( ... ) Jan 14, 1911 USS Arkansas (BB 33) was launched.

She served with the British Grand Fleet in World War I. In WWII, she participated in the Normandy Invasion, then relocated to the Pacific in 1944. After WWII, Arkansas was a target ship during Bikini Atoll Atomic bomb tests, where she was engulfed in a column of water and sunk on 25 July 1946. ( ... ) May 25, 1911 USS Wyoming (BB 32) was launched. Commissioned in September 1912, she later participated in the Veracruz Intervention and WWI. Following the 1930 London Treaty, Wyoming was "demilitarized" in early 1931 and became a training ship, receiving the hull number (AG 17). During WWII, she took on the mission of training thousands of sailors in the art and science of gunnery and operated in the Chesapeake Bay area. Decommissioned in August 1947, Wyoming was scrapped that October. ( ...

) Jan 05, 1919 Germans Anton Drexler, Gottfried Feder, Dietrich Eckart, Karl Harrer, and 20 others formally named their small political group the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) in Munich, Germany. The party aimed to support middle-class citizens of the Aryan race. This party was the forerunner of the Nazi Party. ( ... ) Mar 24, 1919 The battleship USS Idaho (BB 42) was commissioned and spent the next ten years in the Pacific. Following conversion, she was sent to the Atlantic during the beginning of WWII in Europe and returned to the Pacific following the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor and participated in gunfire support of the Aleutian, Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa Campaigns. After the end of WWII, Idaho was decommissioned in Jun 1946 and sold for scrapping in Nov 1947. ( ... ) May 23, 1939 USS Squalus (SS-192) suffered a catastrophic main induction valve failure during a test dive off the New Hampshire coast and partially flooded.

The submarine sank to the bottom and came to rest keel down in over 200 feet of water. 26 lives were lost. ( ... ) May 24, 1939 - May 25, 1939 Vice Admiral Allan McCann's Rescue Chamber was first used to rescue the 33 men from the sunken USS Squalus (SS-192). Four Navy divers received the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions on 24-25 May to rescue the trapped men. Squalus was decommissioned, repaired and renamed Sailfish, then recommissioned in May 1940. Sailfish successfully served in the Pacific during World War II and was sold for scrapping in 1948. ( ... ) Jul 30, 1939 Reacting to German anti-Jewish policies and reflecting the attitude of many other officials in Great Britain and Western Europe, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain writes: "No doubt Jews aren't a lovable people; I don't care about them myself. But that is not sufficient to explain the pogrom." ( ...

) Aug 10, 1939 SS Officer Alfred Naujocks gave this sworn affidavit on the incident which triggered the war: "On or about August 10, 1939, [Reinhard] Heydrich personally ordered me to simulate an attack on the radio station near Gleiwitz, near the Polish border, and to make it appear as if the attacking forces consisted of Poles. Heydrich said, 'Practical proof is needed for these attacks of the Poles for the foreign press as well as German propaganda.' I was ordered to go to Gleiwitz with five or six Security Service men wand wait until I would receive the code words (CANNED GOODS) for the attack from Heydrich. My instructions were to seize the radio station and to hold it long enough to permit a Polish-speaking German, who would be put at my disposal, to broadcast a speech in Polish." The orders were carried out in every detail. ( ... ) Sep 01, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and touched off WWII. The Germans had arranged a series of elaborate pretexts for launching the attack.

Berlin claimed Polish army regulars started firing on Germans along the frontier and that the fire was returned beginning at 4:45am. Hitler addressed the Reichstag, declaring "I am determined to eliminate from the German frontiers the element of insecurity, the atmosphere which permanently resembles that of civil war." German forces slammed into Poland from Silesia, East Prussia, and Slovakia, 1,500,000 men (52 divisions) against a Polish army a third that size. Germany unveiled the blitzkrieg--highly mobile armor and tactical aircraft leading the ground forces through and around the Polish defenses. Large scale pincers movements were executed to perfection. Britain and France notified Germany that unless military action ceased, they would have to come to Poland's aid. Britain and France ordered total mobilization. Danzig was proclaimed to be a part of Germany by Gauleiter Forster. Italy proclaimed its nonbelligerent status. Norway, Switzerland, and Finland declares their neutrality. Russia mobilized and lowered its draft age from 21 to 19. ( ...

) Jan 08, 1940 Finnish 9th division takes possession of Raate Road at dawn, as the last dug-in Soviet troops surrender around Lakes Kuivasjarvi and Kuomasjarvi (near Captain M?kinen?s original roadblock). Mopping up stragglers in the woods will take several days. Finns capture 43 tanks, 70 field guns, 278 trucks and other vehicles, 300 machine guns, 6,000 rifles & 1,170 horses. Another entire Soviet division is gone, estimated at 10-15,000 dead (not even the Soviet know how many men went onto the Raate Road; the Finns do not bother to count the frozen bodies). Finns take only 1000 prisoners and another 700 make it back to USSR. Many of those retreating are shot by NKVD and when Finland returns the prisoners, they are also executed for ?treason?. Finnish casualties in the Battle of Raate Road are 2,700 dead, missing and wounded. ( ...

) Apr 27, 1940 Following a number of inspections at various sites, Heinrich Himmler, Commander of the SS, gave out the order to establish a concentration camp in the former artillery barracks in Oświęcim, known at the time as Auschwitz. The basis for Auschwitz consisted of 22 prewar brick barracks buildings. Over time, the camp exp...anded steadily in both organizational and spatial terms. At its peak in the summer of 1944, Auschwitz covered about 40 sq. km. in the core area, and more than 40 branch camps dispersed within a radius of several hundred kilometers. At this time, there were about 135 thousand people (105 thousand registered prisoners and about 30 thousand unregistered) in the Auschwitz complex, which accounted for 25% of all the people in the entire concentration camp system (525 thousand). ( ... ) May 24, 1940 Hitler ordered German armored units to halt mop-up operations and continue toward Paris. If the panzers had continued they would have wiped out the Allied troops caught in ever-smaller pockets.

Hitler overruled his commanders on the scene because he was sticking to the original plan of a southward thrust after the breakthrough to the English Channel. ( ... ) May 26, 1940 Hitler after a critical two-day delay, ordered German troops to attack Dunkirk. The first units could not advance until late in the day, but the main force could not be organized until the following day. "By then," said General Guderain, "it was too late to achieve a great victory." ( ... ) May 26, 1940 - Jun 04, 1940 Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Allied troops at Dunkirk began. In one of the most dramatic withdrawls in military history, a hastily assembled fleet of 861 ships and boats began pulling what was left of the trapped Allied armies off the beaches of Dunkirk. In a week, 224,585 British and 112,546 French and Belgians were taken to safety. About 40,000 Frenchmen were left behind.

A total of 231 of the rescue vessels were sunk, mostly by the Luftwaffe, but German air strikes were restricted by bad weather and the tenacious fighters of the RAF. For all the glory that accompanied the gallant retreat, Dunkirk represented the nadir of the war for Britain. ( ... ) Sep 28, 1940 Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles outlined US policy in Asia toward Japan. He said Tokyo's intention to create a new order in Asia had resulted in Japan's reliance "upon the instrumentality of armed force, and it has made it very clear that it intents that it alone shall decide to what extent the historic interests of the United States and the treaty rights of American citizens in the Far East are to be observed." Welles called for "complete respect" for US rights, "equality of opportunity for the trade of all nations," and "respect" for all treaties and international agreements to which the US had agreed. "Modifications" through "peaceful negotiations" would be considered. ( ...

) Dec 25, 1940 German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper attacks British troop convoy WS 5A consisting of 20 MS and escorted by RN CA Berwick, and CLs Bonaventure and Dunedin with CV Furious loaded with crated aircraft about 700 nm W of Cape Finisterre. Spots Berwick while still unseen herself. Closes Benwick opening fire with her main battery at 0639. Benwick replies two minutes later. Hipper engages the other cruisers and some mercantile targets with her 105mm secondary battery. The conditions hampered sighting efforts, but at 0705 she hits Benwick's X turrent and at 0708 scores again with a hit below Berwick's waterline causing flooding. She got two more hits before breaking off action at 0714 in a rainsquall. Benwick's fire is ineffective. Hipper also damages two of the convoy's merchant ships, principally the 13,994 ton transport Empire Trooper. She fired 174 main battery rounds in this action. ( ...

) Sep 28, 1941 - Sep 29, 1941 SS troops massacred nearly 34,000 Jews from the Kiev area in the nearby Babi Yar ravine. In its official report, Einsatzgruppe C related: "The Jewish population was invited by poster to present themselves for resettlement. Although initially we had only counted on 5,000-6,000 Jews reporting, more than 30,000 Jews appeared; by a remarkably efficient piece of organization they were led to believe in the resettlement story until shortly before their execution." It had been suggested the Jews were killed in reprisal for the bombing of a Kiev hotel used as a German headquarters, but the SS had been systematically killing Jews in Russia in the wake of the advancing Wehrmacht. Babi Yar stands as perhaps the most horrible single example of vengeful genocide. ( ... ) Nov 05, 1941 Secret instructions (Combined Fleet Ultasecret Operation Order I) were issued to the Japanese navy for the attack on Pearl Harbor. An imperial conference resulted in agreement to continue negotiations with the U.S.

but to go to war if they failed to produce a settlement. The military was thus ordered to prepare for the worst. ( ... ) Nov 06, 1941 While on Neutrality Patrol, USS Omaha and USS Somers intercepted the German blockade runner Odenwald disguised as U.S. freighter and boarded her. While approaching, the crew attempted to scuttle the ship, but the damaged was stopped by the boarding party. Odenwald was then brought to San Juan, Puerto Rico by the Navy ships. ( ... ) Nov 28, 1941 USS Enterprise (CV-6) sailed from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island to ferry Marine aircraft to the island due to ï¿½War Warningï¿½ issued the previous day. Vice Admiral William Halsey approved ï¿½Battle Order No.1ï¿½ that declared Enterprise was operating ï¿½under war conditions.ï¿½ Following the land ing of the aircraft on 4 December, Enterprise made her way back to Pearl Harbor but was caught in storm that delayed her return.

On 5 December, USS Lexington (CV-2) would subsequently leave with Task Force 12 to ferry Marine Aircraft to Midway, leaving no carriers at Pearl Harbor. This departure was also due to the ï¿½War Warningï¿½ of 27 November. ( ... ) Dec 02, 1941 London announced the formation of a new and expanded Eastern FLeet. Britain in the past had maintained a cruiser squadron, but its naval presence in Asia would now be led by more powerful men-of-war. The battleship Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser Repulse arrived in Singapore on this date. This announced action indicated the concern of Britain as it viewed Japan's southward penetration. ( ... ) Dec 02, 1941 Roosevelt - in a personal note to the Japanese envoys in Washington - asked Tokyo for an explanation of the Japanese troop build-up in Indochina. The President said, "The stationing of thee increased Japanese forces in Indochina would seem to imply the utilization of these forces by Japan for purposes of further aggression, since no such number of forces could possibly be required for the policing of that region..." ( ...

) Dec 07, 1941 09:00 Crew of the Dutch liner JAGERSFONTEIN opens up with her guns, the first Allies to join the fight. Radios throughout the island crack out urgent messages "Get off roads and stay off.. Don't block traffic. Stay at home. This is the real McCoy". ( ... ) Dec 07, 1941 09:15 - In a note delivered to Secretary Hull at 2:15 PM (EST) in Washington, the Japanese said, "Obviously it is the intention of the American Government to conspire with Great Britain and other countries to obstruct Japan's efforts toward the establishment of peace through the creation of a new order in East Asia, and especially to preserve Anglo-American rights and interests by keeping Japan and China at war." This declaration of war notice was delivered over an hour after the attack had begun. ( ...

) Feb 03, 1942 - Feb 04, 1942 Anticipating an imminent attack on the Philippine Islands by the Imperial Japanese Navy, USS TROUT (SS-202) rendezvoused with a torpedo boat in Manila Bay and moored at South Dock. TROUT supplied over 3,500 rounds of ammunition to the marine defenders and loaded fuel and two torpedoes. Requiring ballast and with the intent of evacuating the wealth of the Philippine government, TROUT also loaded over 20 tons of gold bars, silver pesos and State Department dispatches. With sunset fast approaching, TROUT submerged to the bottom of Manila Bay. After nightfall TROUT loaded more mail and was escorted through the defensive minefields to sea. ( ... ) Mar 25, 1942 In one of the greatest "trading with the enemy" scandals of the war, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold announces that William Stamps Farish Sr. has pled "no contest" to charges of criminal conspiracy with the Nazis.

Arnold discloses that Standard Oil of New Jersey (later Exxon) of which Farish is president and CEO has agreed to stop hiding patents from the U.S. for synthetic rubber, which the company has in its possession. Missouri Sen. Harry Truman later roasts Farish in front of his committee investigating home front wrongdoing, an event that raises Truman's profile and makes him a plausible running mate for FDR in 1944. The exposure of the scandal is widely believed to have contributed to Farish's sudden death from a heart attack in November of 1942. ( ... ) Jun 06, 1942 The Battle of Midway, one of the most decisive battles in naval history, marks the turning point of the Pacific War. The decisive defeat administered to the Japanese put an end to their successful offensive and effectively turned the tide of the Pacific War. Japanese losses totaled four fleet carriers, one heavy cruiser, 258 aircraft, and a large percentage of their experienced carrier pilots. United States losses were 40 shore-based and 92 carrier aircraft, and the destroyer Hammann and the carrier Yorktown, the result of a single submarine attack.

The significance of the victory was not completely recognized at the time. ( ... ) Jul 10, 1942 While returning from a routine patrol, PBY from (VP 41) sights Mitsubishi A6M2 type 0 carrier fighter (Zero) upside down in a bog on Akutan Island, Aleutians, where it had been since its forced landing on 3 June during the attack on Dutch Harbor. On the 12th, a salvage party from VP 41, began salvage of the Zero which last until mid month. The find was vital as the Allies gained a lot of knowledge to fight the aircraft in future battles. ( ... ) Jul 15, 1942 USS Terror (CM 5), the first minelayer built as such, was commissioned. During World War II, she participated in Operation Torch, the Battle for Iwo Jima, and the Okinawa Invasion, where she was struck by a kamikaze on 1 May 1945. During the Korean War, she was placed in the reserve fleet and was redesignated (MM 5) then to (MMF 5) in 1955.

Decommissioned in 1956, Terror was sold for scrapping in 1971. ( ... ) Jul 30, 1942 The WAVES were created by legislation signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The members of the Women's Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were a part of the U.S. Navy. The U.S. government established the Navy WAVES, or Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service, program. Though Navy women would not be allowed to serve outside the continental U.S., or even to go to sea, the military hoped that the recruitment of 10,000 women, who would work in onshore bases, would free sufficient numbers of men to fight overseas. Although women had served as nurses in the navy as early as the Spanish-American War, and officially in the Navy Nurse Corps since 1908, the WAVES program was by far the largest-scale effort to recruit women to active duty in the Navy. In the WAVES program, thousands of women performed nearly every possible job at over 500 naval stations through the Second World War.

As military leaders had hoped, they enabled male officers and enlisted men to staff the ships that were responsible for the Allied victory in the Pacific theatre. Among the earliest group of women to enlist in the WAVES was Miriam Miller. Although her parents felt that military nursing "wasn't the life for a nice Jewish girl," Miller enlisted soon after her graduation from the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital School of Nursing, in Pennsylvania. She was assigned first to the Great Lakes Naval Station and then to the San Diego Naval Hospital. Later, when the Navy relaxed its prohibition on women serving outside the continental U.S., she worked in Guam, where she cared for soldiers injured in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Active in veterans' affairs after the war, Miller was elected President of the Jewish War Veterans National Ladies Auxiliary in 1961. ( ... ) Oct 22, 1942 The Allies met to discuss Operation Torch. Operation Torch was to be the first Allied amphibious landing of World War II (North Africa), mainly as an induction of US ground forces against the Germans. Operation Torch takes place 8 Nov 1942. ( ...

) Oct 22, 1942 US General Mark Clark arrived in Algiers by submarine for a secret meeting with pro-Allied French officers to discuss Operation Torch. Operation Torch was to be the first Allied amphibious landing of World War II (North Africa), mainly as an induction of US ground forces against the Germans. Operation Torch takes place 8 Nov 1942. At the end of this meeting, being chased by Vichy French police, Clark lost his trousers while jumping into a rowboat waiting to take him to the submarine. The first of the cargo ships left British ports. ( ... ) Nov 08, 1942 Operation Torch, American and British forces landed in Morocco and Algeria. The U.S. Navy saw most of its action around Casablanca and elsewhere on Morocco's Atlantic coast. Local French resistance was fierce, but short, and an armistice on 11 November ended the fighting. This ambitious trans-oceanic amphibious operation gave the Allies bases for future operations. In six more months, all of North Africa was cleared of Axis forces, opening the way for an invasion of Italy. ( ...

) Nov 10, 1942 In response to Mahatma Gandhi's demand that India be granted independence from Britain immediately, Prime Minister Churchill, in a speech at Mansion House, says "I have not become the King's First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire." ( ... ) Dec 30, 1942 USS Greenling attacked a Japanese convoy 180 miles northeast of Manus, Admiralty Islands and sank Army cargo ship Hiteru Maru and damaged cargo ship Ryufuku Maru while USS Thresher (SS 196) sank the Japanese freighter Hachian Maru west of Mata Siri Island, off the southern tip of Borneo. ( ... ) Dec 31, 1942 The squadron finds the convoy and attacks it on 31 Dec. German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper makes visual contact at 0720. At 0939 she engages Achates and obtains one non-vital hit with five salvos before turning to engage Onslow and Orwell.

These destroyers manage to keep Hipper occupied until 1020 when Hipper scores four hits from 48 main battery shells fired at a range of 8,500 meters, seriously damaging Onslow and forcing the destroyers to turn away. Hipper next encounters the MMS Bramble and fatally damages her with her third salvo from 5,500 meters. She closed the convoy and takes Achates under fire once again, hitting her with her first salvo, leaving her on fire and listing seriously. Obedient, Obdurate and Orwell counterattack, forcing Hipper to turn away from the anticipated torpedo attack. The time is now 1130 and the cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica finally arrive surprising Hipper with their first salvos from 10,500 meters. Hipper is hit shortly thereafter and suffers a flooded boiler room. She takes the cruisers under fire at 1134, but is hit twice more a minute latter, with more flooding and a fire in her aircraft hanger resulting. Hipper turns away in consideration of her orders to avoid action with enemy forces nearly equal to her in strength and because of the damage sustained.

The British destroyers chase the Germans and more shots are exchanged until 1400 when contact is definitively broken off. Achates and Bramble sink, but the British rightly claim victory in this action, saving their convoy from a vastly superior force and sinking a German destroyer in the bargain. Hipper is seriously damaged, suffering more flooding and a series of engine failures before she manages to limp back to Kaafjord at 0542 on 1 Jan 43. ( ... ) Jan 29, 1943 The Battle of Rennell Island began when Japanese shore-based aircraft attacked TF 18 covering transports heading towards Guadalcanal. USS Chicago was damaged and sank the next day. Aircraft from USS Enterprise turned away the attackers on the 30th. TF 18 bore the brunt of this attack, and the transports reached Guadalcanal without any damage. ( ...

) Feb 02, 1943 The Japanese destroyer Makigumo was damaged by one of the mines laid by light minelayers USS Tracy (DM 19), USS Montgomery (DM 17), and USS Preble (DM 20) off Cape Esperance the previous night. Makigumo was later scuttled by Japanese destroyer Yugumo. ( ... ) Feb 22, 1943 USS Iowa (BB-61), the lead ship of the last class of American fast battleships, was commissioned. After serving in WWII, she was decomissioned but reactivated in 1951 for the Korean War. Decommissioned in 1958, she was again recommissioned in 1984, serving until Oct 1990. Iowa is currently in the reserve fleet awaiting to become a museum ship. ( ... ) Feb 28, 1943 A group of wives of Jewish men gather in Berlin to stop the deportation of their husbands to concentrations camp.

The group of women will grow to 1,000 by March 8 and will succeed in forcing Joseph Goebbels to order the release of 1,500 men. ( ... ) Mar 02, 1943 - Mar 04, 1943 Fifth Air Force Air Apaches and other aircraft smashed a 16-ship Japanese troop convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. This ended the enemyï¿½s effort to reinforce Lae. The aircraft sank over 40,000 tons of Japanese shipping, including eight troop-laden transports and four of eight escorting warships, and between 50-60 planes. Modified B-25s used low-level skip bombing and .50 cal guns. ( ... ) Mar 05, 1943 USS Bogue (ACV 9) began the first anti-submarine carrier operations in the Atlantic. In July of that year, she was reclassified as an escort carrier, (CVE 9).

While in the reserves in 1955, Bogue was reclassified as a Escort Helicopter Aircraft Carrier (CVHE 9) and was sold for scrapping in 1960. ( ... ) Mar 08, 1943 A PBY-5 aircraft piloted by Lieutenant J.E. Dryden from Patrol Squadron Fifty Three (VP 53) sank German submarine, U 156, east-northeast of Trinidad. Before being sunk, U 156 sank 24 allied and merchant vessels, including USS Blakeley (DD 150) on 25 May 1942. ( ... ) May 20, 1943 The Tenth Fleet was established in Washington D.C., under the command of Admiral Ernest J. King, USN, to coordinate U.S. anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic. Disbanded after WWII, the Tenth Fleet was reactivated in January 2010 as U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. ( ...

) May 22, 1943 During the battle to protect ON 184 in the North Atlantic, TBFs from (VC 9) based on board USS Bogue (ACV 9) sank German submarine U 569 and damaged U 305. Before being sunk, U 569 sank two British merchant vessels. ( ... ) May 23, 1943 USS New Jersey (BB 62) was commissioned. During WWII, she participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Battle of the Leyte Gulf and supported the Iwo Jima and the Okinawa Campaigns in the Pacific theatre. Decommissioned in 1948, she was recommissioned for the Korean War and served until 1957. Recommissioned for the Vietnam War in April 1968, she provided gunfire support until decommissioned the following year. New Jersey was then recommissioned in 1982 and served until Sep 1991. New Jersey currently serves as a museum ship at Camden, New Jersey. ( ...

) Jul 13, 1943 TBF (VC 13) based on board USS Core (ACV 13) sank German submarine U 487, 720 miles south-southwest of Fayal, Azores, 27º 15ï¿½N, 34º 18ï¿½W. During her service U 487 served on two war patrols but did not sink any Allied vessels. ( ... ) Jul 18, 1943 The airship K-74, while on a night patrol off the Florida coast, attacked a surfaced U-boat. In the gun duel that followed, she was hit and brought down -- the only airship lost to enemy action in World War II. The German submarine, U 134, was damaged enough to force her return to base, and after surviving two other attacks on the way, was finally sunk by British Wellington aircraft on 24 August, near Vigo, Spain. ( ...

) Oct 04, 1943 Operation Leader - aircraft from USS Ranger (CV-4) attacked two German convoys in the harbor of Bodø, Norway and caused "appreciable losses" to the vessels. This mission was the only Navy carrier operation in northern European waters during World War II. USS Corry (DD-463) provided escort support. ( ... ) Oct 05, 1943 - Oct 06, 1943 Task Force 14 (TF-14) began a two-day raid on Wake Island. Rear Admiral Sakaibara Shigematsu, the Japanese island commander, then ordered the execution of the 98 remaining civilian prisoners captured on 23 December 1941, due to his fear they would escape and communicate about the weak garrison. ( ...

) Oct 06, 1943 In the night Battle of Vella Lavella, USS Oï¿½Bannon (DD 450), USS Chevalier (DD 451), and USS Selfridge (DD 357) intercepted 9 Japanese destroyers en route to Rabaul after evacuating the garrison on Vella Lavella Island. During the battle, the Japanese destroyer Yugumo was sunk. All the U.S. destroyers were damaged, with Chevalier being scuttled by USS LaVallette (DD-488) due to damage. ( ... ) Nov 02, 1943 USS Halibut (SS 232), USS Seahorse (SS 304), and USS Trigger (SS 237), all operating independently of each other, attacked a Japanese convoy south of Honshu. Halibut sank army cargo ship Ehime Maru, Seahorse sank transport Chihaya Maru, and Trigger sank transport Delagoa Maru. ( ...

) Nov 03, 1943 USS Oklahoma (BB-37), which was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, was refloated after months of laborious effort. Too old and badly damaged, she was formally decommissioned in Sept. 1944. Sold for scrapping in Dec. 1946, Oklahoma sank while under tow from Hawaii to California in May 1947. ( ... ) Jan 04, 1944 In a conference attended by German leaders Heinrich Himmler, Wilhelm Keitel, Albert Speer, and Fritz Sauckel, it was decided that four million people were to be conscripted from occupied territories as forced laborers for war production. One million were to be drafted from France between 1... 02.and 31 Dec 1944. ( ...

) Jan 04, 1944 SS Garrison Doctor Eduard Wirths notified SS Medical Officers in the sub camps belonging to Auschwitz III-Monowitz camp that as of January 4, following identification and a number check, the corpses of prisoners should be sent every day before noon directly to crematorium, bypassing the morgues in Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The death reports of the prisoners and the protocols of the corpse examination were to be sent, as before, to the orderly room of prisoners' hospital in Auschwitz I camp by noon on the day the corpses were delivered to the crematorium. ( ... ) Jan 30, 1944 PB2Ys (VP 13 and VP 102) from Midway Island carryout nocturnal bombing raid on Wake Island to neutralize Japanese airfield installations. Motor torpedo boats Gyoraitei No.5 and Gyoraitei No.6 are sunk during the raid. The strike marked the first time Coronados are used a bombers. ( ...

) Jan 31, 1944 31 January 1944, the Marshall Island Invasion began with US Marine and Army troops landing at Kwajalein and Majuro atolls and then on Roi and Namur the following day. Within two weeks, the island chain would be under Allied control and ï¿½mopping-upï¿½ operations soon began. The landing force was commanded by Major General Holland M. Smith, USMC. Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Task Force 50, commanded the overall operation. ( ... ) Feb 23, 1944 USS PLUNGER (SS-179) was underway during her tenth war patrol. Having sighted a puff of smoke on the horizon, PLUNGER gave chase. She tracked the smoke for two hours before her diligence paid off. PLUNGER sighted a convoy consisting of three large merchant ships and two escorts. PLUNGER selected the two largest ships as her intended victims. The first ship, dubbed "PAPA," was engaged using PLUNGERï¿½s final forward torpedo. This shot struck PAPA amidships, setting her aflame.

Before PLUNGER could engage her next target, named "MAMA," she was subjected to a vigorous depth charging. ( ... ) Feb 24, 1944 The US submarine, Rasher, sinks the Japanese troopship Tango Jaru in the Java sea. The vessel is carrying Allied prisiners of war and 3,500 Javanese slave labourers, more than 3,000 of whom perish. The Rasher then sinks the Ryusei Maru which is packed with 6,600 Japanese troops. Nearly 5,000 of them are killed. ( ... ) Feb 24, 1944 24 Feb 1944, PBY-5As (VP 63) employing Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) gear, and a PV-1 (VB 127), together with an RAF Catalina (No. 202 Squadron) and British destroyers HMS Anthony and Wishart, bombed German submarine U 761 as she attempted to transit the Straits of Gibraltar. U 761 was the first U-boat destroyed through the use of MAD equipment.

The destroyers rescued the U-boat survivors. ( ... ) Mar 29, 1944 USS Tunny (SS 282) torpedoed the Japanese battleship Musashi off Palau, which necessitated repairs in Japan, during which her anti-aircraft firepower was enhanced. Note, Musashi would be later sunk by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944. ( ... ) Mar 30, 1944 TF 58 began bombing of Japanese airfields, shipping, fleet servicing facilities, and other installations at Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the Caroline Islands. TBFs and TBMs from USS Lexington (CV 16), USS Bunker Hill (CV 19), and USS Hornet (CV 12) extensively bombed the minefields in and around the channels and approaches to the Palaus in the first tactical use of mines laid by carrier aircraft. ( ... ) May 05, 1944 USS Comfort (AH-6) was commissioned at San Pedro, California.

She was the first ship to be manned jointly by US Army and US Navy personnel. Serving in the Pacific during WWII, she was hit by a kamikaze on 29 April, which killed 28 (including six nurses), wounded 48, and caused considerable damage. Following repairs and return visits to the Pacific, Comfort was decommissioned in 1946 and transferred to the U.S. Army. After service in the Maritime Commission and Administration, Comfort was sold for scrap in October 1967. ( ... ) May 07, 1944 USS Buckley (DE 51) was damaged when she intentionally rammed German submarine U 66, which had been harassed by TBMs (VC 55) from USS Block Island (CVE 21) about 390 miles west of Cape Verdes. Echoing the close-quarter battles of sail, Buckleyï¿½s crew employed small arms, hand grenades, fists, and even a coffee mug. U 66 sank as a result of the multifaceted pounding. Before being sunk, U 66 sank 37 Allied merchant ships, which included 8 American vessels. ( ...

) May 11, 1944 About 30 minutes before sunset USS CREVALLE (SS-291) surfaced off Negros Island in the Philippines to bring supplies to guerillas fighting the Japanese and pick up refugees. CREVALLEï¿½s commanding officer, Frank Walker remembers, "My orders stated that we would bring out twenty five passengers and no baggage." The second canoe, carrying sixteen more refugees, was a total surprise. As many of the second group were women, children, and also included four American and Filipino soldiers who had survived the Bataan Death March, had made their escape and desperately needed medical treatment. Walker could not turn them awayï¿½CREVALLE took everyone aboard. Among the refugees was American missionary Paul Lindholm and his wife and four children. Lindholm made sure his family was safe aboard the boat and then, in Walkerï¿½s words, "returned ashore at the last minute to continue his ministry among the guerillasï¿½much to the astonishment of his wife who expected him to accompany them to safety." The entire family would survive to be reunited at warï¿½s end. ( ...

) May 18, 1944 Following gunfire support from US Army gunners (who landed on Insoemanai island the previous day), USS Wilkes (DD 441) and USS Roe (DD 418), the 1st Battalion, 163rd Infantry landed on Wakde, off Dutch New Guinea. Rear Admiral William M. Fechteler commanded the naval attack force. On 21 May, the island was declared secure, and Army engineers immediately began to make the airstrip operational. Wakde became a key airfield in the Southwest Pacific offensive, as it supported two heavy bomber groups, two fighter groups, a B-25 reconnaissance squadron and part of a Navy PB4Y squadron. ( ... ) May 19, 1944 USS Niblack (DD 424), USS Ludlow (DD 438), and British aircraft sank German submarine U 960 off Oran, Algeria. Before being sunk, U 960 sank 3 Allied merchant vessels, including the United States steam merchant Sumner I. Kimball on 16 January 1944. ( ...

) May 21, 1944 During preparations for the invasion of Saipan, an accidental ordnance blast on LST 353 set off cataclysmic ammunition explosions at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 163 and injuring 396. Six tank landing ships (LST-39, LST-43, LST-69, LST-179, LST-353, LST-480), three tank landing craft (LCT-961, LCT-963, LCT-983), and 17 track landing vehicles (LVTs) are destroyed in explosions and fires. We remember and salute the lives of the service members killed and wounded. ( ... ) May 29, 1944 USS Block Island (CVE-21) was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-549. During this attack, USS Barr (DE 576) was also damaged. Block Island was the only US Navy aircraft carrier lost in the Atlantic during the Second World War. U-549 was later sunk that night by USS Eugene E.

Elmore (DE-686) and USS Ahrens (DE 575). ( ... ) May 31, 1944 USS Barb (SS 220) and USS Herring (SS 233) planned an attack Japanese shipping in the Sea of Okhotsk about 150 miles west of Matsuwa Island, Kuril Islands. Next, Herring attacked convoy NE and sank escort vessel Ishigaki and army cargo ship Hokuyo Maru west of Matsuwa Island. Barb came across the convoy NE and sank army cargo ship Madras Maru and transport Koto Maru, southest of Paramushir. ( ... ) Jun 07, 1944 Early in the morning while cruising through a swept channel off Normandy, Susan B. Anthony struck a mine which exploded under her number 4 hold. Immediately, she lost all power, and her rudder went hard left and stuck. The commanding officer, Commander T. L. Gray, USNR, with Pinto and two destroyers alongside, efficiently effected the evacuation of troops expeditiously and without resorting to fireboats and rafts. Anthony's crew followed closely behind the soldiers.

No one was killed, and few of the 45 wounded were seriously hurt. The sinking of the Susan B. Anthony listed was the largest rescue of people without loss of life; all 2,689 people aboard were saved. ( ... ) Jun 09, 1944 Fifth Air Force B-24's bomb Peleliu airfield. A-20's bomb shipping in Manokwari harbor. B-24's, A-20's, B-25's, and P-39's, along with RAAF planes, drop about 140 tons of bombs on various targets in Wewak area. B-24's of Thirteenth Air TF bomb Alet air field and T/Os in Truk. ( ... ) Jun 10, 1944 More than 600 people are massacred by German troops in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane. While the men are shot immediately, the women and children are locked in a church the alter of which is set on fire; those who try to escape the flames are shot. ( ...

) Jun 16, 1944 Gunnery Sergeant Robert H. McCard was serving as a Platoon Sergeant with Company A, Fourth Tank Battalion, Fourth Marine Division as they fought against the Japanese at the Battle of Saipan, Marianas Islands. With his tank destroyed by enemy 77-mm. gun fire, he persisted with the attack until he was forced to abandon the tank, exposing himself while covering his evacuating men. Wounded and with the grenade supply diminished, he dismantled a tank machine gun and attacked the enemy positions, destroying 16 enemy soldiers before sacrificing his life to save his men. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, McCard was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. ( ... ) Jun 17, 1944 TBF aircraft from Composite Squadron Ninety Five (VC 95) from USS Croatan (CVE 25) damaged German submarine U 853 in the North Atlantic.

On 6 May 1945, USS Atherton (DE 169) and USS Moberly (PF 63) sank U 853 off Block Island, 41º 13ï¿½N, 71º 27ï¿½W. During her service, U 853 sank two US vessels: USS Eagle (PE 56), 23 Apri 1945 and merchant Black Point on 5 May 1945. ( ... ) Nov 16, 1944 The 332d Fighter Group escorted B-24 bombers of the 304th Bombardment Wing to and from Munich West marshaling yards. During the mission, the group encountered several Me-109 enemy fighters that attempted to shoot down the bombers. Captain Luke J. Weathers of the 302d Fighter Squadron shot down 2 of the 43 enemy fighters. The 52d Fighter Group also escorted the 304th Bombardment Wing that day. Lt. Roger Romine died in an aircraft accident after the aircraft of another escort pilot crashed into his. Capt. Luke J.

Weathers of the 302nd Fighter Squadron earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic actions on this day. ( ... ) Nov 19, 1944 The 332d Fighter Group conducted a strafing mission against enemy railway, highway, and river traffic targets in the Gyor-Vienna-Esztergom area of Austria. 1st Lieutenant Roger B. Gaiter of the 99th Fighter Squadron was seen to bail out of his P-51 after it was hit by enemy antiaircraft fire (flak). 1st Lieutenant Quitman Walker, also of the 99th Fighter Squadron, was also reported missing after also being hit by flak. Both were lost near Lake Balaton, Hungary. For this mission, Fifteenth Air Force commander Major General Nathan F. Twining commended the 332d Fighter Group. For their heroic actions on this day, the following four members of the 332d Fighter Group each earned the Distinguished Flying Cross: Capt. Albert H. Manning (99th Fighter Squadron); Capt. John Daniels (99th Fighter Squadron); 1st Lt. William N.

Alsbrook (99th Fighter Squadron); and 1st Lt. Norman W. Scales (100th Fighter Squadron). ( ... ) Dec 16, 1944 The Battle of the Bulge begins. It the last major German counteroffensive, as allied troops are pushed back in Belgium's Ardennes Forest. As Allied lines fall back, a "bulge" is created in the center of the line, giving the battle its familiar name (see MAP). Two weeks of intense fighting in brutal winter weather follow before the German offensive is stopped. ( ... ) Dec 16, 1944 The Battle of the Bulge begins. It the last major German counteroffensive, as allied troops are pushed back in Belgium's Ardennes Forest. As Allied lines fall back, a "bulge" is created in the center of the line, giving the battle its familiar name (see MAP). Two weeks of intense fighting in brutal winter weather follow before the German offensive is stopped. ( ... ) Jan 05, 1945 Japanese kamikaze attacks continued against the Lingayen Gulf bound U.S. Navy force.

Some of the ships damaged were: USS Louisville (CA 28), USS Helm (DD 388), USS Manila Bay (CVE 61), USS Savo Island (CVE 78), and USS Stafford (DE 411). ( ... ) Jan 05, 1945 The last session of the Police summary court of the Kattowitz Gestapo took place in block 11 in Auschwitz I camp. Around 100 Polish prisoners, men and women, were condemned to death. They were shot to death the following day in crematorium V in Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The court meeting was chaired by Johannes Thuemmler. ( ... ) Jan 06, 1945 Four female Jewish prisoners were hanged in the female camp of Auschwitz: Ella Gartner, R?za Robota, Regina Safir and Estera Wajsblum (in the pre-war picture). They were condemned to death because theyassisted in the uprising that broke out on October 7, 1944 in the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

They provided the Sonderkommando with explosives and munition from the depots of the Weichsel-Union-Metallwerke, where three of the women worked. The execution had two stages. Two of the women were hanged during the evening roll call in the presence of the male and female prisoners who worked the night shift at Weichsel-Union. Two others were hanged after the return of the squad that worked the dayshift. The reason for the sentence was read by the Auschwitz camp commander SS-Hauptsturmf?hrer Franz H?ssler. He screamed that all traitors will be destroyed in this manner. It was the last execution in Auschwitz. ( ( ... ) Jan 06, 1945 Japanese kamikaze attacks intensified on the Lingayen Gulf inbound US Navy force. USS Walke's (DD 723), CO, Cdr. G.F. Davis, posthumously received the Medal of Honor for remaining at the conn and leading his men though gravely wounded. Radm T.E. Chandler is seriously wounded on board USS Louisville (CA 28) and dies the next day. ( ...

) Jan 14, 1945 The 357th Fighter Group flew bomber escort duty to the German town of Derben in what was to become known as 'Big Day.' The 'Yoxford Boys' downed 56.5 enemy aircraft. It was the highest single day total of any US fighter group in the ETO. The 357th lost only three Mustangs and the three pilots were made POWs. ( ... ) Jan 17, 1945 67,012 male and female prisoners of Auschwitz camps complex were present at the last evening roll-call. Evacuation of the camp was about to start. Camp doctor Josef Mengele liquidated his experimental station at sector BIIf in Birkenau camp taking all the documentation of his experiments on twins, dwarfs and disabled people with him. Burning of documents continued, including Auschwitz I camp hospital archive. On this day prisoners of two sub-camps started the evacuation: Sosnowitz and Neu-Dachs.

The commandant of Auschwitz camp Richard Baer gave an order to the leaders of the evacuation columns chosen from among the members of the guard companies to liquidate ruthlessly all prisoners who attempt to escape during the evacuation or drag their feet. It is estimated that at least 9 thousand, and more probably 15 thousand Auschwitz prisoners paid with their lives for the evacuation operation. ( ... ) Mar 07, 1945 The commanding officer at Coast Guard Air Station (CGAS) Floyd Bennett Field, New York, reported successful testing of a dunking sonar unit on board an XHOS-1 helicopter. The XHOS-1, a follow-on design to the HNS-1 Hoverfly, entered naval service in September 1944, with a total of 3 experimental versions and 36 production models acquired for service in the Navy and Coast Guard. ( ... ) Mar 07, 1945 The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagenï¿½the last standing on the Rhineï¿½was captured by soldiers of the U.S. 9th Armored Division during Operation Lumberjack. The 27th Armored Infantry Battalion, led by Lieutenant Karl H.

Timmermann, from West Point, Nebraska, approached the bridge, and found it standing. The first American soldier across the bridge was Sergeant Alex Drabik; Lt. Timmermann was the first officer across. ( ... ) Mar 16, 1945 On Iwo Jima, a month-long struggle comes to an end, as U.S. forces capture the 8-square-mile island. Possessing Japan's last line of radar defense to warn against American air attacks, Iwo Jima is a strategically significant prelude to the invasion of Okinawa. ( ... ) Mar 19, 1945 As Task Force 58 planes bombed airfields at Kyushu and Kure and Kobe Harbors, Japanese aircraft singled out the US Navy carriers for attack. USS Wasp (CV 18) and USS Franklin (CV 13) were hit by enemy bombs. After being hit by two bombs, Franklin suffered subsequent explosions on the flight and hangar decks. Heroic work by her crew, assisted by nearby ships, brought the fires and flooding under control. For their action during this occasion, both CDR Joseph T.

Oï¿½ Callahan, ChC, and LTJG Donald A. Gary received the Medal of Honor. ( ... ) May 07, 1945 Germany surrenders unconditionally to General Eisenhower at Rheims, France, and to the Soviets in Berlin. President Truman pronounces the following day, May 8, V-E Day. The U.S., Russia, England, and France agree to split occupied Germany into eastern and western halves. ( ... ) May 07, 1945 The unconditional surrender of the German Third Reich was signed in the early morning hours at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) at Reims in northeastern France. The surrender was signed by Colonel General Afred Jodl, Chief of the German General Staff, who had alone been authorized to sign the surrender document by German President Karl Doenitz. ( ... ) May 07, 1945 While serving as a flame thrower operator with Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, Fifth Marine Division during the Okinawa Campaign, Private First Class Albert E. Schwabï¿½s company was pinned down in a valley and suffering heavy casualties.

He scaled the cliff, alone and under fire, to the enemy position and skillfully used his flame thrower to destroy the hostile emplacement. After his company occupied the ridge, a second enemy machine gun killed and wounded several Marines. Though low on flame thrower fuel, he quickly determined to advance alone against the enemy fire. Schwab destroyed the second gun emplacement but was mortally wounded at the end of his assault. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. ( ... ) Jun 07, 1945 During the Okinawa Campaign, while serving with the Third Marine Battalion, Twenty-Ninth Marines, Sixth Marine Division, Private Robert M. McTureousï¿½s company suffered casualties after capturing a hill on Oroku Peninsula, and the wounded could not be evacuated due to heavy Japanese fire. Waging a one-man assault to redirect enemy fire away from the wounded, McTureous attacked numerous times and suffered severe wounds in the process. He crawled 200 yards back to safety before asking for aid. His actions disorganized the enemy and enabled his company to complete its mission.

Evacuated to USS Relief, he succumbed to his wounds on 11 June. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, McTureous was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. ( ... ) Jun 09, 1945 In coordination with Navy surface and air forces attacking in the Kurils, 6 B-24's and 8 B-25's of the Eleventh AF fly extensive armed weather recon and anti-shipping sweeps over Kurabu and Otomari Capes, Ichinowatashi, and Asahigawa. The B-24's score no results, half of them jettisoning their bombs. The B-25's then fly a diversionary bombing mission over Araido where they are attacked by 8 fighters. To evade them, the B-25's fly over Kamchatka where Soviet AA fire shoots down one, killing its crew. Another damaged B-25 crashlands in Petropavlovsk. This is the first time Soviet AA hits a US aircraft. ( ...

) Aug 06, 1945 The American B-29 bomber, known as the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb named "Little Boy" was dropped over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed. "Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima," History.com, (accessed Aug 6, 2009). ( ... ) Aug 06, 1945 The U.S B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese industrial city of Hiroshima. The city is leveled, and an estimated 100,000 people are killed immediately (another 100,000 will die later from radiation sickness and burns). On August 9, a second bomb will be dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. ( ... )

Question: During World War II, which spiritual leader addressed letters to Adolph Hitler as ‘My Friend’, requesting him to stop the war which Germany had started?
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi